The 2017 Netherlands election: polls suggest mid-sized parties are now the new norm in Dutch politics

The Netherlands will hold a general election on 15 March. Ahead of the election, Tom Louwerse takes a comprehensive look at the polling. He writes that the polls suggest a relatively large number of mid-sized parties, each commanding between 5 and 11 per cent support, will gain representation in parliament. If the final result is anything close to the predictions, then a complicated government formation process is highly likely

‘A way of seeing and telling’: Resistance through language and form in the work of the Dutch authors Hafid Bouazza and Ramsey Nasr

This article discusses the debate within the Dutch academy on the differentiation between migration and postcolonial writing as a symptom of an area of study in search of consensus. It offers a synthetic reading of the writing of two leading Dutch authors: Hafid Bouazza and Ramsey Nasr based on the assumption that both writers, through their widely different aesthetic and political negotiations, shape the discourse on multicultural literature and society in the Netherlands

Waste rock dilution in stoping of steeply dipping narrow-vein deposits

On the basis of literature reviews, monitoring operational parameters and stope performance, the origins of and the main influences on unplanned waste rock dilution in narrow-vein stoping at the Jokisivu mine were allocated. Stope scanning with a cavity monitoring system (CMS) indicated that most of the unplanned dilution originates from the hangingwall side of the stopes, but also stope footwalls show levels of sloughage. Combining visual observations with scanned stope models, knowledge of past experiences and existing geological structures, revealed that there are two main factors governing the level of unplanned dilution at the Jokisivu operation. The first group of factors are the local geological setting, geological structures and rock-mechanical properties of the host rock. The second factor is the inaccuracy in marking drillhole collar locations. Large deviations in marking drillhole collar locations resulted in designed stope boundaries not being met or being exceeded. This in turn caused additional dilution and ore loss. After monitoring operational parameters and stope performance, several methods have been proposed to minimize unplanned waste rock dilution in future practices of the Jokisivu operation. Prominent measures being the implementation of an alternative method of marking drillhole collar location, reinforcing stope hangingwall support and the continuous monitoring of stopes via the use of a CMS

Stormy Seas and Cloudy Skies: Conceptual Processing is (Still) Linguistic and Perceptual

Pecher et al. (2010) extended current findings on conceptual processing of words denoting references in the sky or in the ocean (e.g., falcon, dolphin) presented in different positions on the screen (top, bottom). This experimental paradigm has shown to facilitate processing for word meaning in the corresponding spatial location (e.g., falcon presented at the top of the screen). Pecher et al. (2010) compared two explanations for the interaction between concept and position, one related to perceptual simulation, the other to a response selection process, in a response time experiments. To test the perceptual simulation explanation participant